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Create a Stylish Living Room with Motion Furniture

Comfort. Function. Style?

One of these words is not one that people usually think of when they picture a motion sofa, loveseat, or armchair. Sure, you can’t argue when it comes to comfort. What is more comfortable than a power reclining, plush chair? And when they come packed with extras – like cup holders, storage spaces, cell phone charging docks, and touch power interfaces – it’s hard to make a case against functionality. But style?

Troy sure is comfy. But most people don’t really know how to style a room with motion furniture.

Luckily, the key to designing a great stylish space with motion furniture is focusing on the word space. Motion furniture usually takes up a lot of it, so these pieces will meet your “positive space” requirement. Next to these pieces, the room will simultaneously look very empty, but challenging in regards as to how to fill it without making it look cluttered. To do that, play around with other pieces that honor the use of “negative space”, yet still compliment the motion pieces’ design.

The bookcase on the left hand side uses a lot of positive space. The one on the right hand side uses little positive space, allowing for more negative space to be incorporated into the design.

Here are a few steps to use this method for creating a stylish space with your motion furniture:

1. Get the motion furniture.

First and foremost, determine which motion furniture you want for your room. We have a variety of motion sofas to choose from, but of course, you want one that’s going to work with your room as much as you are going to work with it.

Small motion sectionals like the Paul are great for small spaces like apartments, lofts, or secondary dens.

Separate sofa, loveseat, and armchair pieces, like in the Fulton set, allow for more freedom in living room arrangement.

The Miller Sectional is great for large, open rooms or rooms with one focal corner space.

The key is, of course, to not buy a piece (or pieces) too big for your room, nor too small. Make sure there is 30″ to 36″ of walkway space between furniture pieces, about 14″ to 18″ between the seating and coffee table (or opt for an open sided serving table to be placed near the recliner), and the arms of any two pieces of seating furniture should not touch at all. Try to keep around 3′ of space between these pieces. Don’t block entryways or fireplaces.

2. Start from the ground up.

If you’re working with carpeted flooring, try to forgo using a large scale or even busily patterned rug. We want to work with open space, and busy patterns will detract from the innate openness of the room. Wood floors will need some carpeting for creature comfort, but again, nothing too busy. Natural textures and colors will work well in these occasions. Animal skins and skin-like rugs will also work, as long as their colors are not too contrasting. Leave the fur and shag rugs for another room.

This printed, skin-like rug will break up the floor space without feeling too heavy.

A jute, rattan, rush (tatami), or bamboo rug will also do the job. If you choose to use a bamboo rug, be sure not to place motion furniture directly on top of it, as this may break the rug.

3. Add a pop of color, and play with texture.

It’s easy to get overwhelmed by the size and shape of the motion furniture, and many feel it is just easier to leave walls blank. While a patterned wallpaper will be too much, your walls aren’t doomed to a state of blah! Use some updated neutral colors to give the walls some cohesiveness without drawing too much attention. Exposed brick, either painted or sporting natural brick colors, give texture without being overpowering.

If you don’t have brick in your house, it can be installed easily with this method from b.organic.

Curtains should be sheer, if you use them at all. Try slatted shutters to keep the look clean. Try ones that retract into the windowsill when open.

These indoor window shutters pull to the side to keep space open, and don’t look outdated.

4. Use accent furniture that leaves breathable space.

Select coffee and end tables that leave a lot of room underneath, and whose legs aren’t bulky or overly ornate. If you need storage space, the drawers should be small, perhaps without a pull. Choose open backed bookcases, which will serve the same purpose but have a feeling of open space.

5. Accessories should be simple, or small.

Ditch the patterns on vases and large potted plants. Metals are still in, and can be used throughout the room. Natural and painted wood branches are excellent space fillers on bookcases and shelves. Ditch large, abstract paintings for singular wall decor objects or small gallery picture frames.

Gold, copper, and bronze are still going strong. Vases and other small accent items provide great opportunities to bring this trend into the home.

Branches and antlers can work as space fillers on shelves, curtain rods, jewelry holders, you name it!

6. Pick open or unobtrusive light fixtures.

Avoid floor lamps – which will require more floor space – if at all possible, unless you are working with a rather large space. Avoid heavy, patterned shades. Recessed lighting works well, as do newer open frame pendant lamps.

Caged lighting elements can remove the heaviness of shaded lamps.

7. Add pillows to dress up the motion piece.

Last and certainly not least, add some pizzazz to that motion piece with accent pillows that match your color scheme. Again, stay away from bold or large patterns. Tie it all in with natural textures or simple trims.

The pattern of this pillow is not so great as to outdate or distract.

The results?

This small space does well with Paul. It doesn’t feel too cluttered or like the furniture is swimming in the space. Everything feels clean yet homey and comfortable.